In recent years, mobile portable terminals such as cellular telephones have spread rapidly and are equipped not only with a simple telephone function but also with various functions such as an electronic mail function, a videophone function, an electronic money function or a camera function, and thereby have become a portable composite information processing device for personal use. Moreover, portability is improved by reduction in size and weight to allow users to carry them freely at any time and any place.
One of major problems arising from such circumstances is that using the mobile portable terminals can be a nuisance to people around the user.
To solve this problem, techniques for restricting a function of a mobile portable terminal owned by a user when entering a specific location such as a concert hall, a movie theater or a hospital have been disclosed (Patent Documents 1 and 2).
Here, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for setting up automatically a restricted state of a function of a communication device such as image shooting or sound recording at a specific location.
Meanwhile, Patent Document 2 discloses a technique for providing a special electronic device (a portable terminal control bar) to be attached to a portable terminal and thereby restricting a function of the portable device. Additionally, the technique allows people around the user of the portable terminal to visually check whether or not the function of the portable terminal is in a restricted state by using an LED mounted on the electronic device or a flag which changes the condition.    Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2002-112214    Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2003-274005